Belt-lacing tool.



PATENTED DEC. 18, 1906.

S. FREEZE.

BELT LACING TOOL; APPLICATION IILED une, 190s.

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IINITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BELT-LACI Specification of Letters Patent.

NG TOOL.

Patented Dec. 18, 1906.

Applieatinn'flled .auifny 6,1906. Serial No. 294.911.

To all whom t may concern;

Be it known that I, SAMUEL FREEZE, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of Doaktown, in the county of Northumberland and Province of New Brunswick, Canada, have invented a new and Improved Belt-Lacing Tool, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to tools adapted for use in applying lacings to belts. A common practice is to attach to such lacings metallic end portions which facilitate the entrance of the lacings to the belt-openings, but when so fitted the lacings are rarely of exactly the correct length and the ends must be cut ofi", resulting in waste.

To provide a device which the lacing may be readily attached to and released from and which will easily enter the belt-openings are the principal objects of my invention.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of one form of my improved lacing-tool. Fig. 2 is a similar view with the shield moved to one side and a portion of the shank broken away. Fig. 3 is a side elevation looking from the right in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a central longitudinal section through the to'ol, and Fig. 5 is a similar view of another embodiment of the invention.

As here illustrated, the device is in the form of a needle 10, having a reduced entering-point 1 l and an enlarged portion or shank 12. In the end of the shank is a recess furnished by overhanging walls 13 13, which are preferably curved, forming a longitudinal slot 13a. This recess is of less width from a to b than it is in a direction at right angles thereto. Along this maximum dimension the walls converge outwardly, giving at c an end opening. Between the ends of the walls 13 is a contracted opening 14 into the recess of less width than is the opening at c. At the inner side of the recess the tool is cut away at 15, and has at one side a projecting portion 16. Upon this projection is mounted a shield 17, pivoted at 18, so that it may be moved across or to one side of the inner end of the recess. Its end coacting with the shank is rounded, so that it gradually merges into the outer wall to furnish, in effect, a continuous surface.

In using the tool the shield is swung to one side, as shownin Fig. 2 of the drawings, and

the lace (indicated at L) is cut away at each side at d, this leaving a reduced neck e and an enlargement e, which is wider than the opening in the shank' at c. (See Fig. 2.) The lace isnow introduced through the opening 14 by forcing' the neck e laterally through the slot 13a, and it is then pulled forwardly in the direction of the maximum dimension of the recess. The enlargement of the lacing contacting with the converging walls secures the parts firmly together, it not only being impossible for the lacing to be drawn through the opening c on account of the portion e but there also being a wedging effect which tends to prevent a reverse movement. The lace being attached to the tool the shield is returned to its cooperation with the shank, Fig. 1, and this giving a surface free from projections which would resist the entrance of the tool through the beltopenings. The lacing operation may now be performed in the usual manner, and when completedthe shield is moved from coaction with the4 shank and the lacing disengaged by forcing it inwardly into the space 15 and then turning it, so that its edge may pass through the opening 14.

In the form of my invention illustrated in Fig. 5 the tool comprises a tubular body 19,

rovided with the point 1 1 and having the enarged portion or shank 12, rovided with the flanges 13, overlying sai shank, as in Figs. l and 2, for receiving the lace L, having the enlarged end e. In the tubular body of the tool is slidably mounted the stem of a shield member, having the head 21, adapted to abut against the inner ends 22 of the iianges 13, whereby to form a smooth surface during the entering of the needle. In the above-described form the lace is inserted in the flanges in the ordinary manner, after which the shield member is pushed toward the inner ends 22 of the iianges 13.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A belt-lacing tool comprising a shank and a point, a portion of the lshank at one end thereof being cut away, and the end of the shank at the cut-away portion being provided with flanges overlying said cut-away portion, the free edges of the flanges being spaced apart from each other and converging toward the end of the shank, and a shield pivoted to the shank and adapted to overlie the flanges.

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2. A belt-lacing tool, corn rising a shank and a point, a portion ofthe s ank at the end thereof being cut aWay, and the end of the shank at the cut-away portion being provided with flanges overlying said cnt-away portion, the free edges of the flanges being spaced apart from each other, and a shield pivoted to the shank and normally overlying the flanges.

3. A belt-lacing tool comprising a shank and a point, the end of the shank remote from the point being provided With flanges overlying the shank, the free edges of the flanges being spaced apart from each other, and a shield pivoted to the shank and norrnally overlying the flanges.

4. A belt-lacing tool comprising a shank and a point, the end of the shank remote from the point being provided With flanges overlying the shank, the edges of the ilanges 2o being spaced apart from each other, and a shield normally overlying the flanges.

5. A belt-lacing tool comprising a shank and a point, the end of the shank remote from the point being provided With a longi- 2 5 tndinal recess opening through the side of the shank, and a shield pivoted to the shank and normally overlying the opening of the recess in the side of the shank. y

In testimony whereof l have signed my 3o name to this specification in the presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

SAMUEL FREEZE.

Witnesses:

F. L. PEDOLIN, L. J. FoWLER. 

